1VAC55-20 Commonwealth of Virginia Health Benefits Program

REGULATIONS

Vol. 26 Iss. 25 - August 16, 2010

TITLE 1. ADMINISTRATION

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Chapter 20

Final Regulation

REGISTRAR'S NOTICE: The following regulatory action is exempt from the Administrative Process Act in accordance with § 2.2-4006 A 4 c of the Code of Virginia, which excludes regulations that are necessary to meet the requirements of federal law or regulations, provided such regulations do not differ materially from those required by federal law or regulation. The Department of Human Resource Management will receive, consider, and respond to petitions by any interested person at any time with respect to reconsideration or revision.

Title of Regulation: 1VAC55-20. Commonwealth of Virginia Health Benefits Program (amending 1VAC55-20-20, 1VAC55-20-320).

Statutory Authority: § 2.2-2818 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: September 16, 2010.

Agency Contact: Charles Reed, Associate Director, Department of Human Resource Management, 101 North Fourteenth Street, 13th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone [phone], FAX [phone], or email [e-mail].

Summary:

These amendments increase the limiting age of adult dependent children from age 23 to age 26 and remove any residency and employee financial support requirements that currently apply to otherwise eligible adult children.

These provisions go into effect the first day of the plan years following September 23, 2010. Thus, for The Local Choice (TLC) plans the effective date will be October 1, 2010, for some school groups, and July 1, 2010, for the remainder of the TLC plans. The effective date will be July 1, 2011, for the health benefits plan for state employees.

Part I
General

1VAC55-20-20. Definitions.

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Accident or health plan" means a plan described in the Internal Revenue Code § 105.

"Administrative services arrangement" means an arrangement whereby a third party administrator agrees to administer all or part of the health benefits program.

"Adoption agreement" means an agreement executed between a local employer and the department specifying the terms and conditions of the local employer's participation in the health benefits program.

"Alternative health benefits plans" means optional medical benefits plans, inclusive of but not limited to HMOs and PPOs, which are offered pursuant to the health benefits program in addition to the basic statewide plan(s).

"Basic statewide plan(s)" means the statewide hospitalization, medical and major medical plan offered at a uniform rate to all state employees pursuant to § 2.2-2818 of the Code of Virginia.

"Benefits administrator" means the person or office designated in the application and adoption agreement to be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the health benefits program at the local level. The benefits administrator is an employee of the agency or local employer that employs the benefits administrator. The benefits administrator is not an agent of the health insurance plan or the Department of Human Resource Management.

"Coordinated service" means a health care service or supply covered under both the program and another health plan. The coordinated service will be provided under the program only to the extent it is not excluded or limited under the program.

"Coordination of benefits" means the establishment of a priority between two or more underwriters which provide health benefits protection covering the same claims incident.

"Department" means the Department of Human Resource Management.

"Dependent" means any person who is determined to be an eligible family member of an employee pursuant to subsection E of 1VAC55-20-320.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Human Resource Management.

"Dual membership" means the coverage in the health benefits program of the employee and either the spouse or one dependent. This definition does not include coverage of retirees or employees or their spouses who are otherwise covered by Medicare.

"Effective date of coverage" means the date on which a participant is enrolled for benefits under a plan or plans elected under the health benefits program.

"Employee" means a person employed by an employer participating in the health benefits program or, where demanded by the context of this chapter, a retired employee of such an employer. The term "employee" shall include state employees and employees of local employers.

"Employee health insurance fund" or "health insurance funds" means accounts established by the state treasury and maintained by the department within which contributions to the plan shall be deposited.

"Employer" means the entity with whom a person maintains a common law employee-employer relationship. The term "employer" is inclusive of each state agency and of a local employer.

"Employer application" or "application" means the form, to be provided by the department, to be used by the local employer for applying to participate in the health benefits program.

"Enrollment action" means providing the information, which would otherwise be contained on an enrollment form, through an alternative means such as through the world wide web or through an interactive voice response system, for the purpose of securing or changing membership or coverage in the employee health benefits program. Submitting a properly completed enrollment form and taking an enrollment action through an employee self-service system are used interchangeably to indicate equivalent actions.

"Enrollment form" means the form, to be provided by the department, to be used by participants to enroll in a plan or to indicate a change in coverage.

"Experience adjustment" means the adjustment determined by the department, consistent with its actuarial practices, to premiums for the year in which a local employer withdraws from the plan.

"Family membership" means the coverage in the health benefits program of the employee and two or more eligible dependents.

"Health Maintenance Organization" or "HMO" means an entity created under federal law, "The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973" (Title XIII of the Public Health Service Act), as amended, or one defined under state law.

"Health benefits program" or "program" means, individually or collectively, the plan or plans the department may establish pursuant to §§ 2.2-1204 and 2.2-2818 of the Code of Virginia.

"Health plan" means:

1. A plan or program offering benefits for, or as a result of, any type of health care service when it is:

a. Group or blanket insurance (including school insurance programs);

b. Blue Cross, Blue Shield, group practice (including HMOs and PPOs), individual practice (including IPAs), or any other prepayment arrangement (including this program) when;

(1) An employer contributes any portion of the premium; or

(2) An employer contracts for the group coverage on behalf of employees; or

(3) It is any labor-management trustee plan, union welfare plan, employer organization plan, or employee benefit organization plan.

2. The term "health plan" refers to each plan or program separately. It also refers to any portion of a plan or program which reserves the right to take into account benefits of other health plans when determining its own benefits. If a health plan has a coordination of benefits provision which applies to only part of its services, the terms of this section will be applied separately to that part and to any other part.

3. A prepaid health care services contract or accident or health plan meeting all the following conditions is not a health plan:

a. One that is individually underwritten;

b. One that is individually issued;

c. One that provides only for accident and sickness benefits; and

d. One that is paid for entirely by the subscriber.

A contract or policy of the type described in this subdivision 3 is not subject to coordination of benefits.

"Impartial health entity" means an organization, which upon written request from the Department of Human Resource Management examines the adverse health benefits claim decision made by the Commonwealth's Third Party Administrator (TPA). The impartial health entity should determine whether the TPA's decision is objective, clinically valid, compatible with established principles of health care, and appropriate under the terms of the contractual obligations to the covered person.

"Insured arrangement" means an accident or health plan underwritten by an insurance company wherein the department's only obligation as it may relate to claims is the payment of insurance company premiums.

"Independent hearing officer" means an individual requested by the director of the department from a list maintained by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to arbitrate disputes which may arise in conjunction with these regulations or the health benefits program.

"Local employees" or "employees of local governments" means all officers and employees of the governing body of any county, city, or town, and the directing or governing body of any political entity, subdivision, branch, or unit of the Commonwealth or of any commission or public authority or body corporate created by or under an act of the General Assembly specifying the power or powers, privileges or authority capable of exercise by the commission or public authority or body corporate, as distinguished from §§ 15.2-1300, 15.2-1303 or similar statutes, provided that the officers and employees of a social services department, welfare board, mental health and mental retardation services board, or library board of a county, city, or town shall be deemed to be the employees of local government.

"Local employer" means any county, city, or town, school board, and the directing or governing body of any political entity, subdivision, branch or unit of the Commonwealth or of any commission or public authority or body corporate created by or under an act of the General Assembly specifying the power or powers, privileges or authority capable of exercise by the commission or public authority or body corporate, as distinguished from §§ 15.2-1300, 15.2-1303 of the Code of Virginia, or similar statutes.

"Local officer" means the treasurer, registrar, commissioner of revenue, attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of a circuit court, sheriff, or constable of any county or city or deputies or employees of any of the preceding local officers.

"Local retiree" means a former local employee who has met the terms and conditions for early, normal or late retirement from a local employer.

"Open enrollment" means the period during which an employee may elect to commence, to waive or to change membership or plans offered pursuant to the health benefits program.

"Part-time employee," as defined by each local employer, means an employee working less than full time whom a local employer has determined to be eligible to participate in the program. The conditions of participation for these employees shall be decided by the local employer in a nondiscriminatory manner.

"Participant" means any person actively enrolled and covered by the health benefits program "Participants" means individuals covered by the plan due to their relationship with the employer. They are not covered as dependents under the plan.

"Plan administrator" means the department.

"Preferred provider organization" or "PPO" means an entity through which a group of health care providers, such as doctors, hospitals and others, agree to provide specific medical and hospital care and some related services at a negotiated price.

"Preexisting condition" means a condition which, in the opinion of the plan's medical advisors, displayed signs or symptoms before the participant's effective date of coverage. These signs or symptoms must be ones of which the participant was aware or should reasonably have been aware. The condition is considered preexisting whether or not the participant was seen or treated for the condition. It is also considered preexisting whether or not the signs and symptoms of the condition were correctly diagnosed.

"Primary coverage" means the health plan which will provide benefits first. It does not matter whether or not a claim has been filed for benefits with the primary health plan.

"Retiree" means any person who meets the definition of either a state retiree or a local retiree.

"Secondary coverage" means the health plan under which the benefits may be reduced to prevent duplicate or overlapping coverage.

"Self-funded arrangement" means a facility through which the plan sponsor agrees to assume the risk associated with the type of benefit provided without using an insurance company.

"Single membership" means coverage of the employee only under the health benefits program.

"State" means the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"State agency" means a court, department, institution, office, board, council, or other unit of state government located in the legislative, judicial or executive departments or group of independent agencies, as shown in the Appropriation Act, and which is designated in the Appropriation Act by title and a three-digit agency code.

"State employee" means any person who is regularly employed full time on a salaried basis, whose tenure is not restricted as to temporary or provisional appointment, in the service of, and whose compensation is payable, no more often than biweekly, in whole or in part, by the Commonwealth or any department, institution, or agency thereof. "State employee" shall include the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and members of the General Assembly. It includes "judge" as defined in § 51.1-301 of the Code of Virginia and judges, clerks and deputy clerks of regional juvenile and domestic relations, county juvenile and domestic relations, and district courts of the Commonwealth.

"State retiree" means a former state employee who has met the terms and conditions for early, normal or late retirement from the Commonwealth.

"Teacher" means any employee of a county, city, or other local public school board.

Part IV
Employee Participation

1VAC55-20-320. Eligible employees.

A. State employees.

1. Full-time salaried, classified employees and faculty as defined in 1VAC55-20-20 are eligible for membership in the health benefits program. A full-time salaried employee is one who is scheduled to work at least 32 hours per week or carries a faculty teaching load considered to be full time at his institution.

2. Certain full-time employees in auxiliary enterprises (such as food services, bookstores, laundry services, etc.) at the University of Virginia, Virginia Military Institute and the College of William and Mary as well as other state institutions of higher learning are also considered state employees even though they do not receive a salaried state paycheck. The Athletic Department of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is an example of a local auxiliary whose members are eligible for the program.

3. Certain full-time employees of the Medical College of Virginia Hospital Authority are eligible for the program as long as they are on the authority's payroll and were enrolled in the program on November 1, 1996. They may have payroll deductions for health benefits premiums even if they rotate to the Veterans' Administration Hospital or other acute care facility.

4. Other employees identified in the Code of Virginia as eligible for the program.

5. Classified positions include employees who are fully covered by the Virginia Personnel Act, employees excluded from the Virginia Personnel Act by subdivision 16 of § 2.2-2905 of the Code of Virginia, and employees on a restricted appointment. A restricted appointment is a classified appointment to a position that is funded at least 10% from gifts, grants, donations, or other sources that are not identifiable as continuing in nature. An employee on a restricted appointment must receive a state paycheck in order to be eligible.

B. Local employees.

1. Full-time employees of participating local employers are eligible to participate in the program. A full-time employee is one who meets the definition set forth by the local employer in the employer application.

2. Part-time employees of local employers may participate in the plan if the local employer elects and the election does not discriminate among part-time employees. In order for the local employer to cover part-time employees, the local employer must provide to the department a definition of what constitutes a part-time employee.

The department reserves the right to establish a separate plan for part-time employees.

C. Unavailability of employer-sponsored coverage.

1. Employees, officers, and teachers without access to employer-sponsored health care coverage may participate in the plan. The employers of such employees, officers, and teachers must apply for participation and certify that other employer-sponsored health care coverage is not available. The employers shall collect contributions from such individuals and timely remit them to the department or its designee, act as a channel of communication with the covered employee and otherwise assist the department as may be necessary. The employer shall act as fiduciary with respect to such contributions and shall be responsible for any interest or other charges imposed by the department in accordance with these regulations.

2. Local employees living outside the service area of the plan offered by their local employer shall not be considered as local employees whose local employers do not offer a health benefits plan. For example, a local employee who lives in North Carolina and works in Virginia may live outside the service area of the HMO offered by his employer; however, he may not join the program individually.

3. Employer sponsorship of a health benefits plan will be broadly construed. For example, an employer will be deemed to sponsor health care coverage for purposes of this section and 1VAC55-20-260 if it utilizes § 125 of the Internal Revenue Code or any similar provision to allow employees, officers, or teachers to contribute their portion of the health care contribution on a pretax basis.

4. Individual employees and dependents who are eligible to join the program under the provisions of this subsection must meet all of the eligibility requirements pertaining to state employees except the identity of the employer.

D. Retirees.

1. Retirees are not eligible to enroll in the state retiree health benefits group outside of the opportunities provided in this section.

2. Retirees are eligible for membership in the state retiree group if a completed enrollment form is received within 31 days of separation for retirement. Retirees who remain in the health benefits group through a spouse's state employee membership may enroll in the retiree group at one of three later times: (i) future open enrollment, (ii) within 31 days of a qualifying mid-year event, or (iii) within 31 days of being removed from the active state employee spouse's membership.

3. Membership in the retiree group may be provided to an employee's spouse or dependents who were covered in the active employee group at the time of the employee's death in service.

4. Retirees who have attained the age of 65 or are otherwise covered or eligible for Medicare may enroll in certain plans as determined by the department provided that they apply for such coverage within 31 days of their separation from active service for retirement. Medicare will be the primary payor and the program shall serve as a supplement to Medicare's coverage.

5. Retirees who are ineligible for Medicare must apply for coverage within 31 days of their separation from active service for retirement. In order to receive coverage, the individual must meet the retirement requirements of his employer and receive an immediate annuity.

6. Local employers may offer retiree coverage at their option.

E. Dependents.

1. The following family members may be covered if the employee elects:

a. The employee's spouse.

The marriage must be recognized as legal in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

b. Children. Under the health benefits program, the following eligible children may be covered to the end of the year in which they turn age 23 regardless of student status 26 (age requirement is waived for adult incapacitated children), if the child lives at home or is away at school, is not married and receives over one-half of his support from the employee.:

(1) Natural and children, adopted children, or children placed for adoption. In the case of natural or adopted children, living at home may mean living with the other parent if the employee is divorced.

Also, if the biological parents are divorced, the support test is met if a natural or adopted child receives over one-half of his support from either parent or a combination of support from both parents. However, in order for the noncustodial parent to cover the child, the noncustodial parent must be entitled to claim the child as a dependent on his federal income tax return, or the custodial parent must sign a written declaration that he will not claim the child as a dependent on his federal income tax return.

(2) Stepchildren. Unmarried stepchildren living with the employee in a parent-child relationship. However, stepchildren may not be covered as a dependent unless their principal place of residence is with the employee and the child is a member of the employee's household. A stepchild must receive over one-half of his support from the employee A stepchild is the natural or legally adopted child of the participant's legal spouse. Such marriage must be recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

(3) Incapacitated children. Adult children who are incapacitated due to a physical or mental health condition, as long as the child was covered by the plan and the incapacitation existed prior to the termination of coverage due to the child attaining the limiting age. The employee must make written application, along with proof of incapacitation, prior to the child reaching the limiting age. Such extension of coverage must be approved by the plan and is subject to periodic review. Should the plan find that the child no longer meets the criteria for coverage as an incapacitated child, the child's coverage will be terminated at the end of the month following notification from the plan to the enrollee. The child must live with the employee as a member of the employee's household and be dependent upon the employee for financial support. In the case of a divorce, living with the spouse will satisfy the condition of living with the employee. Furthermore, the support test is met if either the employee or spouse or combination of the employee and spouse provide over one half of the child's financial support.

Adult incapacitated children of new employees may also be covered, provided that:

(a) The enrollment form is submitted within 31 days of hire;

(b) The child has been covered continuously by group employer coverage since the disability first occurred; and

(c) The disability commenced prior to the child attaining the limiting age of the plan.

The enrollment form must be accompanied by a letter from a physician explaining the nature of the incapacitation, date of onset and certifying that the dependent is not capable of self-support. This extension of coverage must be approved by the plan in which the employee is enrolled.

(4) Other children. A child in which a court has ordered the employee to assume sole permanent custody. The principal place of residence must be with the employee, and the child must a member of the employee's household.

Additionally, if the employee or spouse shares custody with the minor child who is the parent of the "other child," then the other child may be covered. The other child, the parent of the other child, and the spouse who has custody must be living in the same household as the employee.

When a child loses eligibility, coverage terminates at the end of the month in which the event that causes the loss of eligibility occurs.

There are certain categories of persons who may not be covered as dependents under the program. These include dependent siblings, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews except where the criteria for "other children" are satisfied. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are not eligible for coverage regardless of dependency status.

VA.R. Doc. No. R10-2476; Filed July 27, 2010, 11:25 a.m.